Sounds like one of the worst crimes in modern American history, right?

Then why do the men above look like they are tailgating? Smoking cigarettes, others using their cell phones, nobody in the world could guess that these men were even associated with such a horrible crime.

Instead, you'd think the man below was involved.

Nah. He refused to get on the sidewalk during a curfew in Baltimore. Sprayed in the face with pepper spray, the officers even seemed to enjoy brutalizing him. See the smile?

It's not a harsh comparison at all.

In Ferguson, Baltimore, New York, and around the country, protestors were actually protesting against violence and were often treated as if they were murderers.

In Waco, Texas, when one of the deadliest, bloodiest, most violent rampages in modern America happened, the National Guard wasn't called in, the perpetrators weren't beaten or pepper-sprayed, nobody was hogtied or humiliated, the dogs weren't brought out to intimidate anyone. Hell, they didn't even handcuff them or take their phones away. Instead, they just sat them down on the sidewalk peacefully.

Time after time, all around the country, protestors—particularly African-American protestors—have been brutalized by police. That's why, in part, it is so disturbing to see men, apparently all white men, who actually murdered and maimed others, treated with so much dignity and deference.

Americans don't really despise violence, even murder. That's why the Sons of Anarchy, a popular (and extremely violent) television show covering motorcycle gangs, exploded in popularity and why this bloodbath in Waco is being called "the real life Sons of Anarchy" all over the world.

Notice, though, how few images of dead bodies in Waco are being shown in the media. Notice the lack of dialogue about bad parenting or absentee fathers. Notice how the men aren't really being called thugs—even though everything about them fits this definition.

It's a race thing and if you don't see it, you're either blind or lying.

HandsUpUnitedis a collective of politically engaged minds building towards the liberation of oppressed Black, Brown and poor people through education, art, civil disobedience, advocacy and agriculture.